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Eddie Howe is not prone to dramatics or sweeping public statements. Based on his standards, his media briefing after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat counts as a furious outburst. Newcastle scored first but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and seeing a spot-kick overturned by VAR, leading Howe to execute a three substitutions at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” the coach said. “Virtually any player could have been substituted and I believe that was a reflection of our performance level at that stage during the match and it's extremely uncommon for me to have that impression. Actually, I don’t think I have since I’ve been head coach of Newcastle, so I felt the squad required some shaking up at half-time. This explains why I did those decisions.”

Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth were substituted at half-time and the team did stabilise somewhat in the latter period, but never really looking like they might fight back into the game against a side that had won only one of their last nine league matches. Considering the congestion the middle of the table currently is, with just three points separating third from 11th, and a nine-point margin between second and 17th, a sequence of twelve points from 10 games has not left Newcastle adrift but, similarly, they must not finish the season in 13th.

The Issue of Expectations

The challenge to an extent is one of public view. In the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the club have the richest backers in the globe. The assumption at the time the PIF acquired a majority stake of the club in recent years was that it would bring a transformative effect, as the former Chelsea owner achieved at Stamford Bridge or Sheikh Mansour had at Manchester City. The difference is that both of those investors took over before the advent of financial fair play regulations (and the current allegations against Manchester City relate to whether they violated those regulations once they were in place).

Profit and sustainability regulations limit the capacity of owners, however rich, to invest funds on their teams and so in that sense likely would have hindered any Saudi effort to raise the team to the standard of City. But there is no need for the club's expenditure to have been so restrained as it has; they could have invested further and stayed inside the limit – or simply taken a fairly minor European penalty since their big problem is more with the European than the domestic regulation.

Stadium Investment and Financial Regulations

Additionally, stadium development is exempted from PSR calculations; the easiest way to raise income to generate additional financial headroom would be to expand or redevelop the arena. Given the location of St James’ Park, with listed buildings on two sides, in reality that probably implies constructing an completely new venue. Rumors circulated in March of possibly making the short move to a local park – opposition from community organizations might have been surmounted with a promise to create a new park on the existing stadium site – but there has been no movement on that proposal. There has occurred substantial cutbacks from the Saudi fund on a variety of projects as it refocuses on local investments; the attitude to Newcastle seems completely in keeping with that change of approach.

Player Sales Situation

The star striker saga was arose from that conflict. A more confident management could have framed his transfer as essential to free up capital for additional investment; rather there was a vain attempt to keep him. This resulted in Newcastle began the season amid a feeling of disappointment even with the signings of Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and Anthony Elanga. The opening was mixed: one win in their initial six fixtures.

But it appeared a corner was reached. They secured five in six before Sunday, a run that included demolitions of Union Saint-Gilloise and a Portuguese club in the Champions League. This explains the display against West Ham was so surprising. The issue maybe is that Newcastle’s approach is extremely intense, high-energy; a minor decrease in energy can have profound consequences. Perhaps the strain of Premier League, European and cup competition, five games in a fortnight, had taken its toll. The German forward started each of those games and looked particularly fatigued.

The Nature of Contemporary Soccer

That’s the nature of today's the sport. Coaches must be prepared to rotate. The manager has been unlucky that the forward's injury has left him lacking attacking options but, regardless of how valid the reasons, Sunday’s performance was inexcusable –especially following taking the lead at a ground ready to turn on its home team.

Howe will hope it was just a blip, an off-day when everybody is off-colour simultaneously, but if the Magpies are to qualify for the European competition in the future, let alone one day launch an actual title challenge, they cannot be as inconsistent as this.